Cryptosporidiosis, caused by the apicomplexan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum, is a diarrheal disease that has produced a large global burden in mortality and morbidity in humans and livestock. There are currently no consistently effective parasite-specific pharmaceuticals available for this disease. Bumped kinase inhibitors (BKIs) specific for parasite calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) have been shown to reduce infection in several parasites having medical and veterinary importance, including Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium falciparum, and C...

AIM: This study investigated subtypes of Cryptosporidium in patients with gastrointestinal complaints in Tehran, Iran. BACKGROUND: Cryptosporidium, an intracellular protozean parasite, is among the major causative agents of gastroenteritis disorders in humans. It also causes water-borne and food-borne outbreaks of diarrheal diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 1685 fecal samples were collected from patients with gastrointestinal complaints who had been referred to clinical laboratories Tehran, Iran...

We tested a series of sulfur-containing linear bisphosphonates against Toxoplasma gondii, the etiologic agent of toxoplasmosis. The most potent compound ( 22: , 1-[(n-decylsulfonyl)ethyl]-1,1-biphosphonic acid) is a sulfone-containing compound, which had an EC50 of 0.11 ± 0.02 μM against intracellular tachyzoites. The compound showed low toxicity when tested in tissue culture with a selectivity index of >2,000. 22: also showed high activity in vivo in a toxoplasmosis mouse model. The compound inhibited the Toxoplasma farnesyl diphosphate synthase (TgFPPS) but the concentration needed to inhibit 50% of the enzymatic activity (IC50) was higher than the concentration that inhibited 50% of growth...

BACKGROUND: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemicity is a major concern today as it causes greater loss of productivity than any other disease. HIV infection leads to profound immune deficiency and patients become highly susceptible to opportunistic infections (OIs). HIV epidemic in India is heterogeneous in nature, both in terms of routes of transmission as well as geographical spread. AIMS: (1) Determine prevalence of OIs among HIV-seropositive patients and their relation to CD4 count and to focus on the routes of transmission...

Cryptosporidium spp. are recognized as one of the most important enteric pathogens causing enteritis and severe diarrhoea in calves up to 1 month of age. Although the infection may be responsible for some mortality, its impact is mainly associated with the impairment of gastrointestinal functions and lower performance of animals. A female buffalo calf of 25 days old was presented to OPD section, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, SVPUA&T, Meerut, with the symptoms of severe voluminous watery cholera like diarrhea with mucous and blood tinge since 4-5 days...

Cryptosporidium is a world widely distributed parasite which comparatively has a high prevalence in developing countries. The zoonotic potential of some Cryptosporidium species has made the cryptosporidiosis a significant concern to physicians and veterinarians. The occurrence and zoonotic potential of Cryptosporidium species in probable reservoir hosts for man infections was determined by examining faeces of symptomatic and asymptomatic animals. The aim of this study is to screen the presence of Cryptosporidium in fecal sample of free ranging animals in Tehran using Ziehl-Neelsen staining method...

Giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis are now recognized as neglected tropical parasitic diseases. The risk of their dissemination in developing countries, such as Gabon, is increasing, due to urban crowding and poor sanitation. Accurate, simple and rapid diagnosis tools are thus necessary for the estimation of their real burden. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performances of the ImmunocardSTAT(®)Crypto/Giardia Rapid Assay test for the detection of Cryptosporidium (C.) spp. and Giardia (G.) duodenalis in children living in Libreville, Gabon...

Cryptosporidiosis is one of the important zoonotic diseases caused by an intracellular protozoan parasite called Cryptosporidium. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. infection on 1,115 ruminants, cattle, sheep and goats, in Lorestan province, Iran. Using formol-ether concentration technique and modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining method afterwards, the overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. infection in ruminants of Lorestan province was 7.17 %. Prevalence of infection was 9...

Due to its important zoonotic potential, cryptosporidiosis arouses strong interest in the scientific community, because, it was initially considered a rare and opportunistic disease. The parasitological diagnosis of the causative agent of this disease, the protozoan Cryptosporidium spp., requires the use of specific techniques of concentration and permanent staining, which are laborious and costly, and are difficult to use in routine laboratory tests. In view of the above, we conducted the feasibility, development, evaluation and intralaboratory validation of a new parasitological technique for analysis in optical microscopy of Cryptosporidium spp...

Cryptosporidium infection is one of the most common causes of parasitic diarrhoea worldwide in cattle and humans. In developing countries, human cryptosporidiosis is most prevalent during early childhood and links between zoonotic infection and animal related activities have been demonstrated. This study investigated the prevalence and species/genotype distribution of Cryptosporidium among children (< 5 years) and calves (< 6 months) living in a rural farming area adjacent to the Kruger National Park in South Africa, where interactions between humans and wild and domestic animals are known to occur...

The public health risks associated with dairy farming intensification are an emerging concern. We examine the association between dairy cattle density and cryptosporidiosis risk in children <5 years old in New Zealand from 1997 to 2008, a period of rapid intensification of the dairy industry. Multi-level Poisson regression was used to model reported cryptosporidiosis (N = 3869 cases) incidence in relation to dairy cattle densities across urban and rural areas separately, after controlling for microbiological quality of public drinking water supplies and neighbourhood socio-economic factors using the Census Area Unit of residence...

Worldwide, high incidences of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis are attributed to livestock waste. Quantitative microbial risk assessment can be used to estimate the risk of livestock related infections from Cryptosporidium parvum and Giardia lamblia. The objective of this paper was to assess the occupational and public health risks associated with management of raw and anaerobically digested livestock waste in two rural communities in Costa Rica based on fomite, soil and crop contamination and livestock waste management exposure pathways...

Cryptosporidium is recognized as one of the main causes of childhood diarrhea worldwide. However, the current treatment for cryptosporidiosis is suboptimal. Calcium flux is essential for entry in apicomplexan parasites. Calcium dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are distinct from protein kinases of mammals, and the CDPK1 of the apicomplexan Cryptosporidium lack side-chains that typically block a hydrophobic pocket in protein kinases. We exploited this to develop bumped kinase inhibitors (BKI) that selectively target CDPK1...

Malnutrition and cryptosporidiosis form a vicious cycle and lead to acute and long-term growth impairment in children from developing countries. Insights into mechanisms underlying the vicious cycle will help to design rational therapies to mitigate this infection. We tested the effect of short-term protein malnutrition on Cryptosporidium parvum infection in a murine model by examining stool shedding, tissue burden, and histologic change and explored the mechanism underlying the interaction between malnutrition and cryptosporidiosis through immunostaining and immunoblotting...

Parasites are an important cause of human disease worldwide. The clinical severity and outcome of parasitic disease is often dependent on the immune status of the host. Specific parasitic diseases discussed in this chapter are amebiasis, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, cyclosporiasis, cystoisosporiasis, microsporidosis, granulomatous amebic encephalitis, toxoplasmosis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, malaria, babesiosis, strongyloidiasis, and scabies.

Cryptosporidiosis is predominantly a gastrointestinal disease of humans and other animals, caused by various species of protozoan parasites representing the genus Cryptosporidium. Detection of Cryptosporidium spp. in human clinical samples is central to the prevention, surveillance and control of cryptosporidiosis, particularly given that there is presently no broadly applicable treatment regimen for this disease. A non-radioactive, genus specific DNA dot blot hybridization assay was developed using Digoxigenin (DIG) labelled probes to detect Cryptosporidium DNA in human clinical samples...

BACKGROUND: Diarrhea is a frequent complication of solid organ transplantation. Cryptosporidiosis is classically reported in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and emerged as a cause of persistent diarrhea in solid organ transplant (SOT) patients. METHODS: Through the ANOFEL Cryptosporidium National Network and the French Transplantation Society, we collected all cryptosporidiosis cases identified in solid organ transplanted patients between 2006 and 2010 in France...

The apicomplexan parasite Cryptosporidium is the second most important diarrheal pathogen causing life-threatening diarrhea in children, which is also associated with long-term growth faltering and cognitive deficiency. Cryptosporidiosis is a parasitic disease of public health concern caused by Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis. Currently, nitazoxanide is the only approved treatment for cryptosporidium infections. Unfortunately, it has limited efficacy in the most vulnerable patients, thus there is an urgent need for a safe and efficacious cryptosporidiosis drug...

BACKGROUND: Water - related diseases are worldwide health concern. Microbial contamination and contaminant products in water are a source of disease outbreaks and development of cumulative toxic effects. Ensuring safe water is one of the goals to be achieved at the global level. The aim of this study was to assess publications on drinking and recreational water from a health point of view to understand current problems and future research trends in this field. METHODS: Scopus, the largest scientific electronic database, was used to retrieve related articles and present the results as bibliometric tables and maps...